Solo Rainy day blues (Part 2)

[Adal Karelyn]

40th of Spring, 522 AV Midday

“Of the mountain, cold and wintery doth my lover smell” Adal sang quietly as she wrung out her hair, her back to the open door where the rain continued to pour outside. Unlike the last song, this one was much slower and more relaxed so she felt okay about taking her time with it as she stripped out of her wet clothes, leaving only her undergarments on. “An oh, when he comes it is like thine sun on my face, a warm embrace, a barrier against the night.” She said, as she crossed the room to hang her clothes near the fireplace before she went over to her wardrobe where she considered briefly dawning on a new dress or slipping beneath the covers for a bit. She ended up deciding on the dress just in case she had any visitors, which was rare but not altogether unexpected these days.

“Does the wind not remind you of thine hair, fluttering against your face in this bed of ours.” She continued as she slipped on her dress, then a thick wool jacket that she pulled tightly around herself as she slowly paced towards her front tore. Hesitating for a moment as her foot touched a wet spot on the floor. Realizing she neglected to purchase a towel, she stepped around the puddle for now as she edged over to the doorway where the pattering of rain was steadily growing louder. Surprisingly she felt Drooly pad up to her side, remaining just to the side of her as if nothing had gone amiss over the past few days. Smiling, Adal crouched on her haunches as she bent to scratch Drooly behind the ears before slowly standing up again.

“Through the window, I hope to hear your voice. Listening for my love to draw ever near.” Adal said softly as she leaned against the door frame, and pressed her cheek against the cool wood. Pressing her lips together, she could almost imagine that she was apart of the song, and it was nice for several moments until Drooly interrupted the moment by scampering back to the corner of the room. Adal knew not to press him when he got like this, so she avoided taking any notice of it for the moment. Perhaps that was also a fault of hers as well, just as much as it was whatever was bothering the creatures around Lhavit. Because Adal simply didn’t know how to deal with this change in behavior. It was totally unlike anything she had ever experienced with him, who was generally well trained and evenly mannered. An perhaps her hesitation owed a little bit to the mental funk she had been in lately, so lonely in her apartment, afraid to get out even though there was really nothing preventing her from doing just that. It was a mental block, of that she was sure, but of course knowing that didn’t make it any easier to move past. An how exactly was that to work with Drooly being the way he was?

WC - 508

[Adal Karelyn]

Sliding her hand down the door frame, Adal tried to pick up where she had left off, and worked at making her voice soft and lighter than she felt. “I hear. I hear. I hear you galloping over there. Oh joy, how soon. Is that my lover Iowan?” As she sang she drifted till she was standing in front of the doorway and could almost feel the rain, or at least specks of it on her cheeks as the breeze carried across her door. Leaning forward against the frame, she picked up the tempo.

“Oh good, oh good. You must be hungry now. I’ll get something on the fire, hot as our love now.” She was making up the lyrics now, and had to stop to smile sheepishly as they weren’t very good at all. In fact she was fairly certain she was getting much of these songs wrong, but she tried not to take it too personally as she simply tried to enjoy the effort for the catharsis it provided. While it didn’t help her forget nearly so well as sculpting tended to, it felt like a prayer to her mother of sorts singing like this, or at the very least, a way of honoring her memory and bringing the good times close while leaving the shadows where they lie. An for the first time, Adal felt truly happy and carefree singing as she was, as if for a brief moment nothing was impossibly despite how bad she might be at it.

Of course singing was like anything else, it took time to get good at it, and Adal was really not good. Thankfully, or at least hopefully, the rain was loud enough to drown her out to her neighbors or else she might have some very awkward conversations in her future when this bit of weather cleared up. Adal blushed at the thought, but shrugged past the brief spike of fear. That didn’t matter, in fact she might even welcome the excuse for conversation. She needed all the help she could get in that regard, as she’d been pretty terrible about starting conversations lately. She wasn’t particularly used to socializing outside of the small circle of friends her mother had kept around so when all of that broke apart well, she wound up where she was now, alone while surrounded by people who claimed to knew her which was almost worse. That was why she had moved, or at least, one of the reasons just so she could get away from her mother’s associates and make some friends of her own.

Yet, she hadn’t done any of that since moving here. At first it was because she wasn’t settled in yet. Then it was because Drooly was acting strange so she couldn’t bring guests over. Now, what was going to be the next excuse? None she challenged herself. No more excuses. Once this rain let up she was going to start meeting her neighbors, getting to know them, and maybe even make a few friends along the way.

WC - 510

[Adal Karelyn]

Almost with a bit of reluctance she closed her door, then sank against it, resting her back for a moment against the firm wooden panels. This time she made sure to latch it so she wasn’t about to fall through back out into the rain so she felt comfortable enough to really sink her weight against the door. It kind of felt good as she relaxed her body against it, and played with the ties of her coat, tugging at them as she tried to pick up where she left off with the song.

“Where, oh where have you gone my love. The wind blow, the rains come, but your scent had become a distant memory.” She sang softly, and she tried mournfully as she remembered a song from long ago, but couldn’t find the right tone in her own range as she sang the song so it came out more as a whisper. Smiling gently, she continued. “I wait, oh I wait, an yet when I awake the next morning my bed is yet hollow.” Adal laughed and rubbed at the back of her neck. Okay, that was bad, probably even worse than her earlier attempt but still, she was having a little bit of fun wasn’t she making up these lines as she went along. Her only consolation was that there was only Drooly to judge her now, and he was busy with a bone at the moment which was fine enough with her.

She was growing to realize that it wasn’t as easy to sing as she anticipated though then again, she’d always thought of it as a natural talent. One you were born with and perhaps it was, but she kind of liked the idea that it was something she could get better at with a little practice and effort. At the very least she would keep giving it a try as it made this room feel less empty than it currently did.

Breathing in slowly through her nose she walked away from the door and slowly felt her way along till she reached the fireplace where she knelt, feeling for the charred logs that she could smell practically under her nose. Picking them up, she found a few solid pieces to stack towards the back where she hoped to light a fire later. Or get someone to help her do so as she could often be accused of lately. Not that it was particularly needed most nights as it had gotten pretty balmy up in the peaks with the shift in weather. Still it might help her clothes dry a bit faster without wrinkling the fabric much. She didn’t try to light it now however, knowing even if she had the right tools for the job she was fairly far from capable of the task and might just end up lighting her dress on fire which was the last thing she needed right now. Getting up from the fireplace, she dusted off her knees before walking back over to her bed where she sat down.


WC - 510

[Adal Karelyn]

Touching the edge of the bed frame, she gave it a gentle squeeze as she started rocking back and forth, exploring different melodies in her mind before she decided to try playing with her voice a bit, making it higher then lower as she sang. “Oh the taste is so sweet, I swear it is, of true love first met underneath a secret alcove.” Petch, she really had to work on her rhyming. Even though she didn’t say the word out loud, her hand still went to her mouth as she felt a warmth spreading across her face as she felt briefly ashamed that she had gone to such language in such a flippant manner no less. It was good her mother couldn’t read her thoughts now, or at least, she hoped she couldn’t wherever she was in the cycle now.

It was a brief flight of fancy, nothing more she reasoned as she settled back in her bed, turning so she felt it across her whole body as she took in another deep breath. “Down, its down, the monster is under wherever we may tread, it goes with the thunder.” Better, but still pretty terrible she reasoned, although she almost lost herself in a fit of giggles as she imagined someone lurking in her room, quiet as a mouse hearing her sing in such a way. That is until that very same though gave her an inkling of dread before she remembered that Drooly, moody or not would no doubt have already tried to attack the stranger regardless of the way he was feeling, and in fact he might be more apt to as aggression had been the reason she’d been told to keep him inside in the first place.

Adal bit her lip, briefly troubled by the suggestion, but after a few more deep breaths that she used to slowly clear her mind piecemeal, Adal managed to focus herself in such a way that she felt a good deal more calm about reigning in these chaotic thoughts.

“A thump, a beat, your heart it pours, I hear you coming up the moores.” Oh she could almost scream into her pillow how bad she was at this, and couldn’t imagine how she had just recently been doing that out in the street. She had to hold out hope that nobody had heard or seen her because of the pouring rain, yet the doubt was still very much there as she went along with her foolish little fantasy. Adal let her arm drape off the side of the bed, and to her pleasant surprise she heard Drooly’s scrabble up to his feet, then listened as he padded across the floor, claws scratching on the ground before he came to lay beside the bed and lick at the underside of her palm. It was a comforting gesture that reminded her so much of the way he was before all of this strangeness started spreading through Lhavit, and oddly enough encouraged her to keep singing as although she didn’t think it was having an effect on calming him, she liked to think it did for the fact she really didn’t know what else to do.

WC - 533

[Adal Karelyn]

As Drooly licked the underside of her palm, she played with her hair with her yet remaining free hand while she considered just what she was going to do today after she was done being lazy in bed. When something didn’t immediately come to mind, she stretched out her legs and decided to sing just a little bit more before she decided to get to finishing a sculpting project of hers that was practically begging to get done.

“There once was a lovely dog I knew on the way to Zintilia. His name was Maximilia and he loved to run and bark, and..” Where am I going with this? She thought to herself as she blew a strand of hair from her face with a frustrated sigh only to feel it fall back on her face. She brushed it way with her hand and breathed in dramatically before rolling over on her side towards Drooly.

“What do you think pup? Do you think I’ve got a chance at this?” Adal asked. Drooly didn’t respond other than to let out a high pitched whine before he continued licking her palm and Adal decided to accept that as a neutral answer. “Alright then. Love you too.” She said softly.

“What once, what has, what could never be, my lover riding over on a full breasted steed.” Adal sang in a more carefree tone, perhaps a shade too loudly as she heard a knocking against the wall that adjoined a nearby apartment. Covering her mouth, Adal felt a blush creep its away across her cheeks even though she knew that the person was not in the room with her. Still she felt like hiding her face from the embarrassment of it all as she rolled over onto her stomach and hummed loudly into her pillow. When she was finished, she raised her head slightly before relaxing it so she could at least breath easily while she was laying on her belly with her arm still tucked under her.

Outside, the rain continued to pound against the walls, pouring against the window pains until it was only only that and the sound of Drooly licking her hand. It was very relaxing in its own way, and Adal could have almost have drifted away right there only she wasn’t used to laying on her belly. So, not opposed to a midday nape, Adal rolled onto her back and loosened her long coat before settling her free arm underneath her head which she used to prop it up slightly as she started to slowly relax her body until she wasn’t focused on anything beyond Drooly keeping her company. It was just the thing she needed to, to have him back the way he had always been, even if it was only for a little while, and smiling she didn’t have much trouble after that drifting slowly into a short sleep that she would wake up from scarcely a bell later when the rain stopped and she found herself uncomfortably hot beneath that long coat. Drooly had long since fallen asleep as well in the meantime, but Adal came away from her rest feeling a little more confident in her abilities to explore new things, and a small mental note had been made to perhaps try this singing thing out more in the future.


WC - 557